didn't Africans sell their people to the US?

Question

and if they did then shouldn't they be mad at themselves

Answer 1

Thank you!

Isn't it interesting how that piece of the puzzle is always left out. Those white men didn't go into the jungles and capture people to bring back to the US as slaves. They were captured and sold by their own people. One tribe would capture and enslave another tribe. They'd sell some of their slaves to the ships from America. That's how it worked.

America did not invent slavery. It had been around for thousands of years. We were the first ones to abolish it. And, what thanks do we get? Demands for "reparations."

If someone can directly trace their family tree back to slavery, and they want to go after the descendants of the people who owned their ancestors, perhaps that would be justice. I think they should just be grateful that they're not the descendants of those who are still living in the jungles, but that's my opinion.

However, this idea that every black person deserves something from the government is insane. There are black people who pay lots of taxes, too. Probably many who are descendants of slaves. So, why should they (and the rest of us who never profited from slavery) pay every single black person for the sins of someone else's ancestors?

Not every white person is privileged, and not every black person is oppressed. "Can't we all just get along?"

Answer 2

Slavery has always been a way of life in Africa. There is slavery today in some countries on that continent. But that does not justify it or make it right.
Yes, the slaves who were sold to European and American slave traders were captured by blacks (of different tribes and nations) and sold to the slavers. No, the black slavers were no different than the white slavers, and had no more regard or illusion about the life that their victims were being sent into than the whites, either.
But again, that is not a justification.
It is unfortunate that the simple-minded education provided in American public schools fails to separate the racial issue from the economic issue from the social issue when teaching about slavery, but there you have it ... generations of American black children taught that their ancestors were "enslaved by white people," when actually they were enslaved by slavers. Generations of American black children taught that the Civil War was the "War to End Slavery," when Lincoln didn't emancipate Southern blacks (and only Southern blacks) until well into the war, when he needed a cause to rally support for a war that was not going too well. Generations of American black children are taught that "slavery" is the same as "social injustice" and the end of one necessitated the end of the other, when nothing could be further from the truth (and in fact the struggle for social justice continues today, 142 years after the "end" of slavery).
So, short answer, yes, Africans sold other Africans to slavers of all nationalities (Arabs, and Europeans and Americans). But no, they should not be mad at "themselves," except that they might be too readily accepting of second class status.

Answer 3

They did sell their people to the US the difference is that their concept of servants was different than the US's concept of slavery. They did not know the terror that would be experienced by those sold. Also, keep in mind that these people were offered gifts of things that they had never even seen before in exchange for the people. When people are blinding by greed they often make poor decisions. And to comment on the other person who said that its not PC...the thing is that the selling isnt what mattered, it was what the whites did to them that is the problem and the struggle that blacks have had to go through in this country. When Africans found out what was being done to the people who were sold they stopped offering to sell so what did the whites do???????? STOLE THEM. Villages were pillaged and people were taken away...so lets not lose focus here

Answer 4

IF one seeks to place blame at all, it's only fair to blame BOTH parties - the sellers and the buyers. The fact that Africans sold their kin to European traders does not absolve the European traders or the eventual slave owners from wrong-doing. So, no, you're not off the hook. Sorry.

That being said, hasn't the slavery issue been done to death on this site?

Answer 5

Well, they sold them to the slave traders and I'm sure they were put on the boats too. If they did then "we"(Black ppl) should be mad at the Europeans too.

Answer 6

NO, they sold them to slave traders who then sold them to Americans. Slavery is still alive and doing well if you haven't notice. Slavery is as ancient as humans and is not unique to Africans.

Answer 7

Yes and yes. However, Europeans created the market!

Answer 8

Yes they did, but this fact is not PC, so it is little discussed.

I guess they "did the work Americans wouldn't do." LOL

Answer 9

I must agree with Lily on this one.

Best wishes.

Answer 10

Yes. (Good Point.)